Adair, Rhona (Kathleen)
Adair, Rhona (Kathleen) (1881–1961), amateur international golfer, was born 2 September 1881 at Glenavon, Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, one of six children of Hugh Adair, linen manufacturer, and (Mary) Augusta Lee Adair (née Graves). The family, who were presbyterian, were keen golfers: her…...
Arkless, Brede (née Boyle)
Arkless, Brede (née Boyle) (1939–2006), rock climber and mountain guide, was born 10 August 1939 in Moston, Manchester, England, the daughter of James Boyle, a fitter, and his wife Mary (née Harrison). Born prematurely while her Dublin-resident parents were visiting family in Manchester…...
Bailey, Mary (‘Lady Bailey’) (née Westenra)
Bailey, Mary (‘Lady Bailey’) (née Westenra) (1890–1960), aviator, was born on 1 December 1890 at 30 Grosvenor Square, London, to Derrick (Derry) Warner William Westenra (1853–1921), the fifth Baron Rossmore, and his wife Mittie (née Naylor) (d. 1953), the daughter of a wealthy English…...
Bennett, Louisa (‘Louie’)
Bennett, Louisa (‘Louie’) (1870–1956), suffragist, trade unionist, and peace activist, was born 7 January 1870, in Garville Avenue, Rathgar, Dublin, the eldest daughter of James Cavendish Bennett, a prosperous auctioneer, and his wife Susan (née Bolger). She was brought up at Temple…...
Betham, Cecilia Maria Eleanor
Betham, Cecilia Maria Eleanor (1843–1913), archer, was born in January 1843 in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, the second child and only daughter of Molyneux Cecil John Betham (1813–80), archivist, and Elizabeth Betham (née Ford), the daughter of Sir Richard Ford, chief magistrate (1800–06)…...
Booth, Eva Selina Gore-
Booth, Eva Selina Gore- (1870–1926), poet, mystic, trade unionist and suffragist, was born on 22 May 1870 at Lissadell, Co. Sligo, the second of three daughters (and two sons) of Sir Henry Gore-Booth, 5th baronet and Arctic explorer, and his wife, Georgina (née Hill) of Tickhill castle…...
Breslin, Mary (‘Maura’)
Breslin, Mary (‘Maura’) (1914–84), trade unionist and feminist, was born 29 December 1914 in Dublin. She began working life as a staff nurse in Grangegorman mental hospital, and began her lifelong activism in trade unionism by joining the Irish Women Workers Union (IWWU), founded (…...
Buckley (Goulding), Margaret (‘Maggie’; ‘Margaret Lee’)
Buckley (Goulding), Margaret (‘Maggie’; ‘Margaret Lee’) (1879–1962), republican, trade unionist, and writer, was born in July 1879, at Winter's Hill, Cork, the eldest daughter of James Goulding and his wife Ellen (née Joyce), both of Cork. Her father, who was employed as a labourer…...
Cahalan, Cissie
Cahalan, Cissie (1876–1948), trade unionist and suffragist, was born in Cork in 1876. Little is known of her early life, other than that she was apprenticed to the drapery trade, and by 1906 was based in Dublin where she worked as a draper's assistant in Arnott's of Henry St. Her…...
Cahill, Mabel Esmonde
Cahill, Mabel (1863–1905), tennis player, was born 2 April 1863 in Ballyragget, Co. Kilkenny, twelfth of thirteen children of Michael Cahill, gentleman landowner and barrister-at-law, of Ballyconra House, Ballyragget, and his first wife, Margaret (née Magan), Ballymore, Co. Westmeath (…...
Campbell, Gertrude Elizabeth
Campbell, Gertrude Elizabeth (née Blood ) (1857–1911), writer, journalist, and critic, was the second daughter of Edmond Maghlin Blood (d. 1891), of Thurloe Square, London, and Brickhill, Co. Clare, and Mary Amy Fergusson (d. 1899), of Leixlip, Co. Kildare. Owing to her father's…...
Carney, Winifred (‘Winnie’)
Carney, Winifred (‘Winnie’) (1887–1943), trade unionist, feminist, and republican, was born Maria Winifred Carney 4 December 1887 at Fisher's Hill, Bangor, Co. Down, youngest child among three sons and three daughters of Alfred Carney, commercial traveller, and Sarah Carney (née Cassidy…...
Chenevix, Helen Sophia
Chenevix, Helen Sophia (1886–1963), trade unionist, suffragist, and social campaigner, was born 13 November 1886, at Ivy Bank, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, only child of Henry Chenevix and Charlotte Chenevix (née Ormsby). Educated at Alexandra College, Dublin, she went on to…...
Clifford, Mary (‘Mai’)
Clifford, Mary (‘Mai’) (née Hollingsworth ) (1913–86), trade union official and laundress, was born 25 September 1913 at Phoenix Park, Glasgow, Scotland, the elder of one daughter and one son of Joseph Hollingsworth, a blacksmith from Co. Kerry, and his wife Elizabeth, a Glasgow…...
Conroy, Sheila (née Williams)
Conroy, Sheila (née Williams) (1918–2012), trade unionist, social activist and administrator, was born on 22 April 1918 (or 4 April 1917) in Bantry, Co. Cork, only child of Harry and Jane Williams. A Welsh petty officer in the Royal Navy, Harry Williams was stationed at Bantry (1914–…...
Coote, Nina Edith
Coote, Nina Edith (1883–1945), croquet champion, was born 23 September 1883 in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England, only child of Orlando Robert Coote (1855–1927), land agent, and his wife Edith Mary (née Hume) (1858/9–1920). Her father was the third son of Rev. Sir Algernon Coote (1817–99…...
Copley, Clara (‘Ma’)
Copley, Clara (‘Ma’) (1865–1949), boxing promoter, was born 14 May 1865 at Masbrough, Rotherham, England, to Jonas Roddis, fishmonger, and his wife Mary Roddis. Clara was the sixth of their nine children. She married Joseph Copley of Leeds on 22 November 1886 at Darfield, Yorkshire.…...
Cummins, Iris Ashley
Cummins, Iris Ashley (1894–1968), engineer and hockey player, was born 6 June 1894 in Woodville, Glanmire, Co. Cork, daughter of William Edward Ashley Cummins, professor of medicine at UCC, and Jane Cummins (née Hall) of Cork. Of her…...
Davies, Christian (alias ‘Mother’ Ross, Kit ‘Kitty’ Cavenaugh)
Davies, Christian (alias ‘Mother’ Ross, Kit ‘Kitty’ Cavenaugh) (c.1667–1739), female soldier and adventurer, was apparently born in Dublin, daughter of a brewer and maltster named Cavenaugh . It is difficult to establish the truth about her colourful career; most accounts…...
Diver, Bridget
Diver (Divers, Deaver, Deavers, Devens, Devins, Devan), Bridget (‘Irish Biddy’, ‘Michigan Bridget’) (fl. 1861–4), vivandière and ‘daughter’ of the First Michigan Cavalry regiment, was born in Ireland sometime before 1840. It has been suggested that the ‘Michigan Bridget’ legend…...
Dowling, Sheila (Sighle)
Dowling, Sheila (Sighle) (née Bowen ) (c.1896–1957), republican, socialist, trade unionist, and feminist, was a member of Cumann na mBan. During the war of independence she served as stenographer in dáil courts in north Dublin city, and worked for the republican solicitor…...
Fitzgerald, Mary
Fitzgerald, Mary (1885–1960), South African trade unionist and socialist, was born in Ireland; her maiden name, and precise place and date of birth are not known. Emigrating with her father to the Cape Colony (1900), she worked as a typist for the British army at the Castle, Cape Town.…...
Galway, Mary
Galway, Mary (1864–1928), trade unionist, was born 6 September 1864 in Taglanneg, Moira, Co. Down, daughter of Henry Galway and Elizabeth Galway (née Magennis), linen weavers. She later moved with her family to Belfast, living initially in 85 Leeson St., before settling in 31 Crocus…...
Garvey, Philomena Kathleen
Garvey, Philomena Kathleen (1926–2009), amateur golfer, was born on 26 April 1926 in the village of Baltray, Co. Louth, the youngest of six children (four sons and two daughters) of James Garvey, a seaman, and his wife Kathleen (née Owens), whose father had been a ship's captain.…...
Gatty (Gillett-Gatty), Katherine
Gatty (Gillett-Gatty), Katherine (1870–1952), suffragette and socialist, was born on 11 June 1870 in Firozpur, India, to Edward Gatty, a British army captain and Emma Rebecca Gatty (née Collum ), a member of a prominent Fermanagh family. Gatty, an only child, was raised on the…...